‘You should be shot’: Alleged threat in Rockport is latest incident targeting Black Lives Matter
Other incidents involving racist taunts and defacing BLM signs have been springing up around Greater Boston.
Related Links
-
Danielle Fuentes Morgan
‘I wasn’t surprised. I was just hurt.’: A Black professor says police demanded proof she lives in her own house
-
Newburyport
Hate crime investigation underway after man allegedly shouts racial slur at young teens
-
Beacon Hill
2 windows with Black Lives Matter signs displayed smashed in Beacon Hill
Every Sunday for the past few weeks, Aedan McCarthy has stood at a main intersection in Rockport holding a Black Lives Matter sign for about an hour.
While he’s received some negative responses from passersby – people flipping the middle finger, shaking their head, someone shouting “All lives matter” – one response he received this past Sunday worried him enough to call the police and report it.
“You should be shot, you f–– queers,” a middle-aged man in a blue pickup truck shouted as he drove past, McCarthy said.
“That’s the first time it’s ever been, I felt like it was really bad,” McCarthy told Boston.com. McCarthy did report the incident to police, Rockport police confirmed, but was only able to give the short description.
Though this incident may be troubling, it’s just one of several that have occurred recently with the rise in attention, and mass mobilization throughout the country, of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd in late May.
Since Floyd, a Black man, died while being taken into custody by Minneapolis police, attention has been drawn to multiple Black people killed or injured during an interaction with police. Just Sunday night, Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back at least seven times by police in Kenosha, Wis., which has resulted in protests.
McCarthy said he began his weekly sign holding about a month ago, usually with a handful of other BLM supporters. He stands in Rockport’s Five Corners, the intersection of the town’s major thoroughfares, a popular location to hold signs for various causes, or candidates seeking election or re-election.
McCarthy, who is white, said that during the time he’s held his sign, others who have participated have also been white. He noted that Rockport residents are also mostly white – U.S. Census data shows that in 2019, the town population was 97.5 percent white, with 1.5 percent of the population Hispanic or Latino, and Black or African American people making up just .2 percent of residents.
While McCarthy said there have been many positive interactions and people showing support, he said he doesn’t want people in the community to think that because of that, there isn’t work to do.
For McCarthy, he feels it’s important to bring awareness to BLM in a town like Rockport.
“It’s [predominantly] white communities that need to be hearing about this,” he said, noting that if anything, the incident makes him feel “emboldened” to be out with his sign next weekend and into the future.
However, he also recognizes that by being white, he may feel a level of confidence or comfort while holding his sign that comes with white privilege, and that the experience for a person of color may be different.
Outside of Rockport, Newburyport, another seaside community on the North Shore, reported an incident involving two Black women allegedly being accosted over the weekend by a Methuen man who is now facing charges.
On Saturday, the women approached a Newburyport police officer and told the officer that a man, later identified as Daniel T. Cain, 61, walked past them and while doing so “made offensive comments toward [them] relating to their race and gender,” according to a news release from the city. One of the victims then took a picture of him; Cain then allegedly called her “a vulgar and disparaging word.”
Cain is being charged with two counts of annoying and accosting a person, disturbing the peace, and disorderly conduct, the release said.
“This kind of behavior has no place in our community,” City Marshal Mark Murray said. “I’m proud of the thorough work the investigating officers did to identify this individual and hold him accountable.”
In Welfleet, police say they’re investigating Black Lives Matter signs vandalized last week, according to a news release. The signs were damaged with black spray paint.
https://www.facebook.com/wellfleetpolice/posts/3399568926748885?__cft__[0]=AZV8uaqz1Ru3MScqr27tD7WRxeFOKHoaZN9l1I5qiRCV-oAhsacHUICBZF1vp8eC-KQcotDW0nnmJgJLSZP8uJmdVPp2SdXoNXvItWYGahErrT90gb_wZZdgq1elb1hqSDZOoZNtZJhjOaNxUlLYnqNS_bqep0N4Y2EqVhhzD-K1JQ&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
And in Somerville, a resident’s Black Lives Matter sign was defaced, also with black spray paint, which they found upon return from vacation. Part of the sign says “WLM.” Part of the N-word was spray painted on the resident’s house, according to photos posted by the resident on Twitter, which Mayor Joseph Curatone retweeted.
“THIS is why we need #BlackLivesMatter signs,” Curatone said along with his retweet. “Racism is real and, sadly, it’s everywhere.”
Get Boston.com's browser alerts:
Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com